Today, North Shore seniors worked on their Finding Home posters where they offer tips on how to prevent elder financial abuse. During the discussions, one group explored how instilling values at a young age is one of the most important prevention strategies.
The group decided they want to use their Finding Home posters as speaking tools and give presentations to youth, seniors and bankers. One of the most important messages they want to transmit to youth is that LOVE IS POWERFUL & PRECIOUS.
To meet these dynamic seniors and learn about their insights on what creates home and how to prevent Elder Financial Abuse, join us at John Braithwaite Community Centre on November 5th 2010 fro 2pm to 3pm in the Harbourview room. For more information contact Claudine Claridge at cclaridge@jbcc.ca / 604-982-8326
North Shore Finding Home Dialogue Participants
Today was our first Finding Home Afghan Seniors Dialogue for the Elders Financial Abuse Awareness Dialogue Project. We met with 16 Afghan seniors and had a dialogue about Why Home Matters and the importance of finding a sense of home. We were ready for the dialogue participants about half an hour early, when most diligently began to arrive. In attempt to make the participants feel welcome we learned a few greeting terms in Dari. As I practiced my Dari with a senior, Jessie found a tray and brought tea to all of the participants. A tray of fruit, vegetables and cookies followed the tray of tea. We started the session after one participant, who is a religious teacher, said an opening prayer from the Qur’an.
A profound statement followed the opening introductions from one of the participants. In Afghan culture, being a good host is very important. If someone enters your house and you don’t feed him or her, it is bad luck. The seniors were overjoyed at our welcome in Dari, and in particular at Jessie’s serving them tea and food. She continued to say, “In Canada, there is never any courtesy like this, and this is so nice of you. Today is the first time we felt truly welcomed in Canada.”
We discussed the art of welcoming, courtesy and hospitality. Many of us, could certainly learn from Afghan seniors the importance of being truly welcomed and finding a sense of home in a new country or wherever you may be.
Afghan Seniors And Police Build Bridges
North Shore Seniors Share Stories And Share Home
Seniors Share 5 Tips For Getting Over A Con-Artist
How To Make Connections – Seniors Dialogue
Post by Jenni-Leigh Harder
Posted by Jenni-Leigh Harder
Today, North Shore Seniors met with the resource people who represent organizations that can help them if they have a problem with elder financial and related abuse: North Shore Community Policing, BC211, BC Center for Elder Advocacy and Support, and the North Shore Community Response Network. Questions were asked; such as, what are the uses for 911, what if I don’t speak good English, who do I call if I don’t want the authorities involved and where can I get advice and support for financial abuse.
The North Shore seniors left informed about their community and the resources in place to help them. Here is what they said:
“All of this information really inspired me. Now I want to take this information and use it with other seniors to get down to the ‘nitty gritty’. The empowerment of seniors, especially women, needs to start at a young age. How are we to give assistance to a fragile senior when we need to be working at this with long-term goals and with more government funding and support for women.”
“Prevention is where it is at. Since dealing with seniors, I have learned a lot and been fascinated. I also feel like I am getting to understand Iranian culture more and their seniors more. There is a bond happening and I love it.”
“This information was so useful to me, now I know there are services even if I am not comfortable speaking English.”
“There was a lot of useful information today. We have the information but then what? We have the knowledge now but then what? We need to bring it out and into the community and turn it into action. For me, home is community. I would like to see my home be a focus and a gathering place where people can come and use the information I have acquired. The service of putting it out there in the community is vitally important. We have learned so much, but how do we get this information out there?”
Here are some pictures of the North Shore Seniors meeting with their community resource people:
Seniors Share 5 Tips For Getting Over A Con-Artist
North Shore Seniors Share Stories And Share Home
Project Launch: Fables, Afghan Egg-Fighting and More…
Afghan Seniors And Police Build Bridges
Posted by Jenni-Leigh Harder
Dreams and personal wishes can motivate us to reach our goals. They can also make us vulnerable to con artist if we have unmet needs or unfulfilled dreams. Through the stories North Shore seniors shared today, this was a prevalent theme. A desire for a friend, connecting with relatives, seeing a son married, and providing a safe and secure place for your children or grandchildren are stories seniors shared and stories that ended in elder financial abuse. How can you tell if you are dealing with a wolf in sheep’s clothing?
The North Shore seniors’ Finding Home dialogue group on Elder financial abuse have come up with the ten red flags you may be dealing with a wolf in sheep’s clothing:
- The creation of a dependency
- Excessive use of flattery
- You become isolated
- The story doesn’t add up
- Pressure or change in you financial arrangements
- Everyone tells you that there is a problem
- Too much, too soon and too good to be true
- You have a funny gut feeling about it
- You are rushed into decisions
- A relative shows up out of the blue and expects a lot
Afghan Seniors Compromise to Find Their Canadian Home
“When we don’t share our stories about financial abuse, this perpetuates an issue that has been going on for years. We need to stand up and say no more! This shift in thinking needs to transcend cultures. Elder Abuse is not acceptable anymore.” –dialogue participant
Embarrassment and shame have been holding back seniors from sharing their stories of financial abuse. We discovered today, through the Finding Home seniors dialogues on Elder Financial Abuse, that this affects all cultures. Shame may be carried for many reasons; personal embarrassment, cultural embarrassment, fear of judgment on you personally, on your family, or on your culture. This silencing shame only perpetuates Elder Financial Abuse, as stories and experiences being shared is key to overcoming this issue personally as well as rooting out the abusers.
To help carry you through, the seniors at John Braithwaite Community Centre and North Shore Neighbourhood House have come up with 5 helpful tips for moving past shame and embarrassment:
- Break the news gradually, first to a close friend, then to family and then to the public
- Try to see what you can learn and take away from it
- Share your story humorously
- Realize that through sharing your experience you are preventing others from falling into the same trap
- Understand that many others are in a similar position to you
North Shore Seniors Learn About Community Resources
Project Launch: Fables, Afghan Egg-Fighting and More…
Afghan Seniors Speak On Canadian Courtesy
10 red flags you might be dealing with a WOLF
How To Make Connections – Seniors Dialogue
Post by Jenni-Leigh Harder
“Home is one night of winter in Iran. During the summer, windows are open but in the first signs of fall there is a big cleaning everywhere, the first fifteen days after fall all of the windows are closed, all of the curtains are closed. I cannot feel a warmer environment than when the family is very close to each other. In the winter we are together” ~ dialogue participant
The multicultural Finding Home seniors dialogues for the Elder Abuse Awareness Dialogue Project are being hosted at John Braithwaite Community Center and North Shore Neighbourhood House. Today’s first dialogue session was called Home Matters. The senior & elder participants came from many different backgrounds; Iranian, First Nations, and European – all with an interest for more involvement in their community and to do something about elder financial abuse.
We started with a openning prayer from a Tsleil-waututh Elder and ended the session with the realization if the importance of belonging and having a sense of home.
For some, home was in our surroundings. Such as eating, sleeping, being loved, and a place of sadness and happiness. For some, home was in our memories. Home was mom and playing outside as a child, a sense of security. For others, a sense of home was more internal. It was a quality of thought, a beacon that we carry inside of us.
Without this sense of home, we may become more vulnerable to Elder financial abuse, as predators often prey upon people who are lonely or have unfulfilled dreams. This first session left us with an awareness of the many issues and reasons that Elder financial abuse has affected so many seniors within our communities regardless of their cultural background.
Project Launch: Fables, Afghan Egg-Fighting and More…
Afghan Seniors Compromise to Find Their Canadian Home
Afghan Seniors Speak On Canadian Courtesy
Seniors Share 5 Tips For Getting Over A Con-Artist
Posted by Jenni-Leigh Harder
My good friend Catherine Maneker is passionate about martial arts and in particular self defense for older adults. Since she loves walking, she decided to take a cane self defense course! She does not want the stories about violence against seniors in the news to affect her freedom to walk when and where she wants. Taking the course has showed her how a simple walking stick can be used as a powerful self defense tool regardless of your strength or size. Now Catherine has 6 wooden walking sticks that she says are really swords in disguise. When she goes for a walk, she spends half of her time imagining scenarios and practicing her moves. The other half of the time she meanders and enjoys her surroundings. She says cane self defense keeps her mind and body fit.
Catherine Manekar Says Walking Sticks Make Great Self Defense Tools
